Buzz
Navigating city roads is simple with apps like Google Maps or Waze, but finding your way along a forest trail often involves juggling multiple PDFs, paper maps, and park-specific apps. Hikepack seeks to simplify this process.
Hikepack utilizes OpenStreetMap data, which includes trails and other useful features such as bathrooms and campsites. The app lets you select a park and discover what it offers. It tracks trail distance and elevation gain and estimates the calories you’ll burn during your hike.
With the free version, you can view maps. The 'Pro Pass' (free for the first seven days, $9.99/year thereafter) unlocks features like tracking your location and more advanced tools:
Download maps for offline use
Create custom routes and check the distance and calorie burn
Tap on a point of interest (like a campsite or water source) and select 'Get me there' to automatically generate a route from your location, with a countdown as you get closer.
I tested the app on a trail run yesterday. While I’m familiar with most of the trails in my local park, discovering a new route for a quick run can be tricky, as I usually don’t know the exact distance and it’s nearly impossible to measure using the maps I typically rely on. (Is this a two-mile run or five miles? Compare the scale bar with the squiggly line to figure it out.) However, with Hikepack, I quickly found a new trail I hadn’t tried before, and I knew it was 1.7 miles long. (I confirmed it using a running app at the same time, and it matched perfectly.)
Having GPS integrated with an accurate trail map app was a game changer. (It’s unsettling to feel lost, knowing your location and the trail’s position, but being unable to directly correlate the two.) During yesterday’s run, the trail split, and I couldn’t find any trail blazes on either side, but I was able to check the app and realized I had taken the wrong path.
That said, it's important not to rely solely on digital tools for wilderness navigation. GPS-enabled apps drain your phone’s battery, and what happens if it runs out? (A helpful feature: Hikepack alerts you when your battery dips below 40% and offers tips on power conservation.) On a serious hike or backpacking trip, always carry a paper map and compass, even as a backup. Personally, for a one-hour jog in a local park, I’m comfortable using the app because I know the park well enough to find my way back without it.
The app currently offers a few hundred maps, but they are expanding quickly and accepting requests. After I mentioned to a Hikepack representative that I wanted to use the app but couldn’t find any maps near me, they promptly added my favorite park, along with several of the most popular parks in my state. You can request new maps directly from the app, and they aim to have them available within two weeks. So far, they’ve mapped parks in the US, UK, Switzerland, Finland, and Romania, with plans to add Italy and Slovenia soon.
